Glenn Robinson III took part in a GQ-Indy 500 fashion show in May.
Glenn Robinson III has been in the league just two seasons, but he’s still looking to earn a role in a team’s rotation. His first season flew by, part of two teams but without a contributing role on either one.
The Pacers added the Gary, Indiana product to their roster last July on a multi-year deal. It was a three-year deal, per league sources, with only the first season and some guaranteed.
During the 2015-16 season, he appeared in 45 games, including five starts, and he averaged 3.8 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He shot 43 percent from the field and made 14-of-37 (37.8 percent) shots from beyond the arc
August 1 is a big deal for him this year, because that’s when his $1.1 million owed for the 2016-17 becomes guaranteed if he’s not waived before then.
VigilantSports.com recently talked with Robinson III to get his take on playing for the Pacers, Nate McMillan being promoted to head coach, and his goals for next year.
What have you been up to in the offseason? I saw you had an excellent turnout for your camp back home, but otherwise it seems like you’ve spent a lot of time over at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
I’ve been in town. I went up north to go home for a couple of weeks and to take a couple of weeks to relax a little bit. Now I’m just back into the workout mode and grinding, getting ready for Summer League. That’s the next step for me.
(Robinson III, Joe Young, Rakeem Christmas, Shayne Whittington, and second-round pick Georges Niang are expected to participate in Summer League play.)
That will be a pretty cool experience going into it with Rakeem and Joe, especially. I think we can definitely make some noise. We’ll get a lot of minutes, get a chance to play, and continue to build our chemistry together.
It’s rarely easy to lose a head coach and to go through change. Reflecting back on your first year here, what were you able to take away from Frank Vogel?
Frank’s a great guy, a great coach. I really learned a lot from him this year. He was a lot different than the coaches I have had before. He was a great player’s coach, someone that we can relate to and talk to. He talked to me on a daily basis, every time I came into the gym he was speaking to me.
The situation, I learned myself that the NBA is a business, man. It is what it is at the end of the day. Sad to see him go but I think coach Nate will do a great job coming in and helping this organization out.
What have your conversations with Nate McMillan been like in his first month as head coach?
I went into the gym to work out a couple days after the announcement and he talked to me about me being a big part of the team and how Summer League is the first step to doing that. And he really thinks that I can help this team. That’s great to hear from him.
Basically he said “Go take it.” So that’s something that I’m excited for next season, and I know he was pretty pumped up about the whole situation [being promoted to head coach] and I could just hear it in his voice, see it in his face. He’s excited and I think that we could really do some big things.
[Nate McMillan fills out coaching staff with Bill Bayno, David McClure]
We are only allowed to see a small part of practice, you guys shooting free throws. How much of a voice did coach McMillan have?
He had his spurts at times when he would get on us, but I think his biggest thing was (done) individually. He would pull me aside all the time, pull Joe aside all the time. He’s a defensive-minded guy, too, so he had his input on that a lot during practice. I could definitely tell just by picking his brain and hearing what he has to say at practice that he’ll be a great coach. He already was a great head coach.
Looking at back at your season, it was your first season with some stability after that wild rookie year. How do you encapsulate what you were able to do last season?
Like you said, my first season I didn’t get much playing time or anything. The second year was on and off. At the beginning of the year I was playing a lot. I just want to continue to get better.
Next year, my goal is to be in that rotation full time. That’s what I’m planning on doing, and going and taking that.